Democrat Xp Lee and Republican Ruth Bittner will move forward to a special general election next month to fill the seat formerly held by the late House DFL Leader Melissa Hortman.
The candidates emerged from primaries on Tuesday to advance in the race to fill the House District 34B seat representing parts of Brooklyn Park, Coon Rapids and Champlin. The general election is Sept.16.
Lee, who had his party’s endorsement, topped two other DFL candidates to win the primary, according to unofficial results from Hennepin County precincts. He had nearly 60 percent of the vote; Christian Eriksen and Erickson Saye split the rest.
Lee is a former Brooklyn Park city council member who was born in a refugee camp in Thailand to a Hmong family displaced from Laos by the Vietnam War.
In a statement posted to Facebook, Lee paid tribute to Hortman as setting “a high bar for what it means to serve.”
“Tonight, we celebrate,” Lee said. “Tomorrow, we roll up our sleeves and get ready for September. Let’s take the energy, hope and unity we’ve built in this primary and carry it forward to victory in the special election.”
Bittner, a realtor, ran unopposed for the Republican nomination.
Next month’s result in the northwest suburban district could return a 67-67 tie to the House of Representatives or net Republicans a one-vote edge.
The special primary fell almost two months after Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman, were fatally shot in their Brooklyn Park home in what is believed to be a political assassination.
State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were also wounded in a shooting believed to be committed by the same gunman. They are recovering from their injuries.
There are two other pending special elections for legislative seats, both in the closely divided Minnesota Senate. One is an east-suburban seat left vacant by the resignation of DFL Sen. Nicole Mitchell and the other is a seat west of Minneapolis opened after the death of Republican Sen. Bruce Anderson. The special elections to fill those are in November.
